Personal Growth
by EnDingo
Summary: A retelling of Persona 4 Golden. Protagonist has a unique background.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or anything related to Persona.**

 **Welcome to the first chapter of this story. A few months ago a friend of mine lent me his PS Vita and Persona 4 Golden and i fell in love with the game and it's characters. So i thought i'd try my hand at writing about it. I hope you all enjoy. Let me know what you think and if there's anything i need to fix or should work on. Thanks!**

Tristan Chase stared out the window at the scenery flying by, hoping it would calm his nerves. He was currently on a train headed to Inaba, a small, rural town where he would be living with his uncle for the next year. He had come to Japan from Canada as part of a program to help promote hockey in the country. Canada was sending over some of their top rookie prospects while Japan was sending some of their best young figure skaters. The rest of the team Tristan had traveled with were staying in the nearby city of Okina, but since Tristan had family in Japan the organizers thought it would be best if he stayed with them. Tristan had spent the last year vigorously studying Japanese as well as keeping up with his regular studies and training. However he wasn't fully confident that all of his practise would pay off when talking to actual people. He let out a sigh and readjusted the baseball cap that was resting on his short, brown hair. Realizing he had a fair amount travel time left he decided to get some sleep. He rested his face against the cool window and slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

"Welcome to the Velvet room"

 _Huh? What's going on, where am I?_ Tristan looked around confused. In front of him sat a short, man with a massive nose. To his left sat a beautiful, sophisticated looking woman dressed in all blue.

"It seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny. My name is Igor" the man continued. He smirked at the look of confusion on Tristan's face and continued. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter…"

 _What? Between mind and matter? That doesn't seem possible._ Tristan looked to his left and noticed what looked like fog drifting passed the windows. As he sat he felt a low rumble in his seat. _Am I in a car?_

"This room can only be entered by those bound with a "contract." It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future." Igor then looked directly at Tristan. "Now then, why don't you introduce yourself?"

Tristan shifted uncomfortably. "Um, my name is Tristan Chase."

Igor nodded, seeming pleased with the response. "Now let's take a look at your future, shall we?" Igor lowered his hand toward the blue coffee table sitting in front of him and a deck of cards appeared face down on it. "Do you believe in fortune telling?" Igor then spread some of the cards out around the table and flipped one over. "This card represents the immediate future. It appears a terrible catastrophe is imminent." He then flipped another card. "The moon in an upright position. It represents hesitation and mystery. Very interesting." Igor chuckled to himself. "In the coming days you will enter into a contract of sorts, when that happens you will return here. My duty will is to aid in the journey of our guests." Igor waved the cards away. "Ah, I have neglected to introduce my assistant. This is Margaret, she too is a resident of this place." Igor gestured towards the woman sitting beside him. Who perked up and turned toward Tristan.

"My name is Margaret. I will be accompanying you through your journey."

"We will attend to the details another time. Until then… Farewell."

The scene before Tristan slowly began to fade away into darkness.

* * *

Tristan awoke with a start, his face had left a misty imprint on the glass where he slept. _What a strange dream._ A voice came on over the intercom. "Now arriving at Yasoinaba station." Tristan slowly got up from his seat and adjusted the red zipper hoodie he was wearing. He reached up above the seat to grab his backpack and made his way towards the exit. As he reached the door he paused and took a deep breath. He stepped out and surveyed the area around him. He was standing in a small outdoor station, there were only a few other people around. He walked to the luggage car and retrieved two large duffel bags. He slung them over his shoulders and walked down the steps towards the entrance.

"Hey" an unfriendly sounding voice called to him from behind. "You dropped this." Tristan turned around to see a cute but unhappy looking girl approaching him with a piece of paper. She had short black hair and was wearing white, sleeveless collared shirt with a black tie hung loosely around her neck.

Tristan accepted the paper, which was a note with the address to his uncles house. "Oh thanks!" he said cheerfully.

"Whatever, I just picked it up." She replied snarkily and quickly walked off. Tristan shrugged and continued walking out of the station.

"Hey over here!" Tristan turned towards the voice to see a man and a little girl standing in front of a small car. The girl was hiding behind the man, clutching his grey collared shirt tightly. Tristan walked over to the pair.

"Tristan right? Let me get a look at you" the man said, stroking the short, mess stubble on his chin. "You're much better looking in person, and way taller! You'll stick out like a sore thumb around here." He said with a chuckle. "Oh, where are my manners. I'm Ryotaro Dojima, your mother's younger brother… er, step brother." He said with a smile. "And this is my daughter Nanako, go on, say hi to your cousin."

Nanako peeked out from behind her father. "Hullo" she said quietly.

"Haha, why are you so shy all of the sudden… Ow!" Dojima jumped when Nanako smacked him on the back.

Tristan chuckled "It's nice to meet you both."

Dojima then helped Tristan put his bags in the trunk of the car and the three climbed in and drove off. Tristan observed the countryside as they drove, the area was very green and hilly. After 10 minutes of driving they arrived in Inaba. Dojima pulled into a gas station at the edge of town and stopped. A station attendant hurried over.

"Can you go to the bathroom yourself?" Dojima asked Nanako. Nanako nodded in reply. The two got out of the car. Nanako hurried off towards the bathroom while Dojima approached the attendant. Tristan decided to get out of the car and stretch his legs.

"Going on a trip?" the attendant asked.

"No we were just picking him up from the station. He just moved here from Canada." Dojima gestured towards Tristan as they spoke.

"Canada huh?"

"Fill up my car will ya? Regulars fine."

"Right away, Sir."

Dojima walked away and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Leaving Tristan alone with the Attendant.

"Are you in high school?" the boy asked. Tristan paused for a second and nodded. "This place must be pretty different from where you come from. There's not much to do around here. You'll probably get bored pretty fast. I'd suggest either make some friends and hang out with them, or get a part time job. Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part time help right now. Why don't you give it some thought?" He walked over to Tristan and extended his hand.

"Yea sure, I'll think about it." Tristan grasped his hand a gave it a firm shake.

"Well, I should get back to get work." The attendant walked off.

Tristan felt a sudden wave of nausea wash over him. He closed his eyes and shook his head to try and clear his mind. When he looked up again he noticed Nanako looking at him.

"…Are you ok? Did you get carsick? You don't look very good."

Tristan smiled at her. "I'm ok, just a little tired. It's been a long day."

"Maybe you should walk a little bit? That might make you feel better." Nanako said nervously.

"That's a good idea Nanako. I think I'll do that."

Nanako smiled at the praise and Tristan walked towards the street. As he passed Dojima he let him know what he was up to. Dojima suggested he walk down the shopping district and take a look at the stores. As he walked he observed many small shops lining the streets. There was a small book store, a few restaurants and a few shops that he didn't really recognize. _Daidara Metalwork's? Looks intimidating._ As he walked he noticed the unfriendly girl from earlier. He decided that he would go over and talk to her. Thinking it might be a good idea to practise he Japanese.

"Uh, hey." He said a little unsure of himself.

"Hm? Have we met?"

"Yea we met at the station a few minutes ago."

The girl thought for a moment. "Oh right, you dropped the paper."

Tristan chuckled nervously. "Yea that was me. What were you doing at the station?"

The girl paused for a moment. "Nothing, I just went. I don't really have anywhere to go…" The girl fell silent and looked away, apparently deep in thought.

"Um… well it was nice talking to you." Tristan said awkwardly. The girl just nodded and continued to stare off into the distance. Tristan slowly began to walk away not entirely sure if the conversation was over. When she didn't say anything he picked up his pace and returned to the car. Nanako and Dojima were ready to go so once Tristan climbed into the car they left. As they drove off Tristan couldn't help but think about the strange girl he'd met earlier.

* * *

A short while later Tristan was sitting around a table in the living room of Dojima's house. He had been shown to his room and unpacked most of his things. Dojima had then asked if he would like to join him and Nanako for some supper.

"All right, let's have a toast to this new experience." Dojima said, the three of them raised their various beverages and took a drink. "So, tell me a little bit about this trip."

"Well, I've been sent over here to play my last season before my draft year In the J-Ice league. Hockey Canada chose a few of the top ranked players in the CHL to send over to try and spark some interest in hockey over here. We will be divided up to play in some of the teams here and teach them a little bit. That's basically it." Tristan said slowly so he didn't mess up any words.

"Sounds like quite the opportunity, though I'm surprised your mother let you come."

Tristan let out a short laugh. "Actually the only reason she said yes was because I could stay with you."

"Haha that sounds like her. Well regardless. We're happy to have you."

Suddenly Dojima's phone rang. He had a short, heated conversation and hung up.

"Sorry, it looks like I have to go take care of some business. You two should get to bed, you both have school tomorrow."

"That sounds good thanks. Goodnight guys."

"Night"

"Goodnight" Nanako said quietly.

Tristan walked up the stairs to his room and laid out his futon. After quickly changing he turned out the lights and climbed into bed. The sound of rain hitting the window created a relaxing setting and Tristan found himself falling asleep rather quickly. As he closed his eyes he shortly wondered about what school the next day would be like. Soon he was fast asleep.

 _Now what's going on?_ Tristan found himself on a red brick road. His visibility to the left and right we're completely obstructed by fog. He could see a short way ahead of him but all he saw was the road continuing forward. _Well, I guess I'll go forward._ Tristan began to jog forward at a brisk pace. After a short while he heard a voice.

* * *

"Do you seek the truth?"

Tristan looked around but saw nothing. He shrugged and continued forward.

"If It's truth you desire, come and find me…"

 _What's going on?_ It sounded like the voice was coming from up ahead. Tristan decided to continue moving forward. However he moved with a bit more caution then before. He soon came to a red a nd black wall blocking his way. Confused he slowly reached out to touch it. As soon as he came into contact with it the wall began to spiral and open. Tristan tentatively stepped through and found himself in heavy fog. In front of him he could make out a humanoid shape.

"So you're the one who's pursuing me? Well you will have to do better than that."

Suddenly a sword materialized in Tristan's hand. Before he had time to realize what was going on he found himself rushing forward and slashing at the figure. As he took a few swings he could feel his blade making contact with the figure. After each hit he heard muttering, but couldn't quite make out what was being said. Suddenly the fog deepened even further. Tristan could no longer see the figure.

"Hm, will we meet again? Perhaps in another place… I look forward to it."

After hearing those words Tristan's vision began to darken, he felt like he was floating out of his body. Soon he was unconscious once again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Authors Note: Hey everyone. Managed finish this chapter faster than i expected so that's cool. I wouldn't expect this pace the entire time but who knows. Anyway let me know what you think!**

Tristan woke up to the sound of a small voice from outside his room.

"Um excuse me. Are you awake? There's breakfast downstairs."

Tristan glanced over at his clock. There were about 30 minutes before his first day of school started. He climbed out of bed and started getting ready. He retrieved the school uniform Dojima had picked up for him out of the closet. It consisted of a simple, light black jacket with large buttons and matching pants. Tristan put on a light red t-shirt underneath the jacket and left it unbuttoned. He checked himself in the mirror and nodded satisfied. Hearing the sound of the TV downstairs he decided to go and join Nanako for breakfast.

"Good morning" he said sitting his plate down on the table.

"Morning" she replied without looking at him.

They sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes before Tristan decided to try and start a conversation. "So where's your father this morning?"

"He had to work all night; he said he'd be home tonight."

There were a few moments of silence before Tristan spoke up again. "He works for the police right?"

At this Nanako perked up looking a little proud. "Yep! He solves things and stops bad guys. He's a detective!"

"That's pretty cool; bet that keeps him pretty busy."

"Yea, he's gone a lot. But that's ok I can take care of myself." The mood seemed to dampen for a moment. The two finished eating and Nanako spoke up. "We should probably get going, school starts soon. I'll walk with you until we get to my school."

"That sounds good."

* * *

Tristan walked down a straight path. He could see the high school a short way down the road. He had walked with Nanako until they reached her school, at which point she gave him directions to get to his school. A few other students were walking on the same path, most in pairs or small groups. Tristan overheard short bits of conversations between them.

"Did you hear there's a new student from Canada coming to our school today?"

"Oh yea! He's part of some athlete exchange program right? I saw something about it on the news last night."

"I wonder which class he'll be in."

As Tristan continued walking he heard the sound of a bell ringing behind him. He looked back and had to quickly step to the side as a boy on a bike flew past. As he zipped between other students he started to lose his balance. After a few more seconds his bike toppled over and he flew a collection of trash at the side of the road. The boy lay groaning on his stomach with his bike across his back. Tristan paused and looked at him for a moment. _I wonder if I should help him._ He was about to ask him if he needed assistance when he heard the school bell ring from up ahead. _Ah he's probably fine; I can't be late for my first day._ Tristan quickened his pace and walked through the school gate.

* * *

The first hour of Tristan entering the school consisted of a flurry of paper signing, a rushed school tour and finally receiving his home room classroom. A faculty member escorted him to his new classroom where he now stood in front of the other students. He shuffled awkwardly in front of the blackboard while the teacher gave an opening address.

"All right everyone shut your mouths." A man with a receding hairline and a massive overbite stared sternly at the assembled students. "My name's Kinshiro Morooka and I'll be your homeroom teacher this semester. Now first thing's first, don't think that just because it's spring you can be all over each other like love struck baboons. Long as I'm around you'll all be as pure as the driven snow.. Now I hate wasting my time, but I suppose I'd better introduce this transfer student. This sad sack's comet all the way from Canada to middle of nowhere Japan for reasons no one could fathom. And he'll be just as much a loser here as I'm sure he was there, so you girls better not get any ideas." Tristan raised an eyebrow at the unflattering introduction but stayed silence. "Now tell 'em your name, kid, and make it snappy."

"Umm… I'm Tristan Chase. It's a pleasure to meet you all." He said trying to avoid eye contact with the other kids in the class.

"Hey! What's that look you're giving that girl at the back? Thought I wouldn't notice did ya? Well listen here. We're thousands of miles away from your country of perverts and assholes. So you better not even think of getting involved with the girls here, let alone abusing them!" Mr. Morooka paused for a moment and sighed. "Ah but what do I know… it's not like the old days. Even here kids grow up so damn fast. Every time I turn around you're all messing around on your phones. Checking your life journals or whatever."

It seemed like Mr. Morooka would go on forever when suddenly a short haired brunette girl in a green jacket spoke up. "Excuse me! Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?"

"Huh? Oh yea whatever. Ya hear that?" Morooka turned back to Tristan. "you'll be sitting there for the school year. Now hurry up and sit down!"

Tristan hurried to the seat in the middle of the room and sat. He felt like all eyes were on him as he sat. He slouched down in a feeble attempt to make himself stick out less. The girl sitting beside leaned over and whispered. "He's the worst huh? Well we just have to survive a year with him so it could be worse."

Tristan heard other student's whispering around him.

"That transfer students got some rotten luck, winding up in King Moron's class on the first morning."

"Yea, he doesn't think twice about suspending anyone that gets on his bad side. Though, I guess we're all in the same boat."

"Everyone shut your traps! I'm taking roll and you all better respond in an orderly matter."

Tristan shifted his focus back to the front of the class and buckled in for a long day off class.

"All right that's all for today. Normal lectures will start tomorrow." Mr. Morooka finally wrapped up his day of long winded speeches and dismissed the students. Everyone immediately stood up and found their friends. A voice came on over the intercom.

"All teachers please report to the faculty office immediately for a brief staff meeting. All students please return your classroom and remain there until further notice."

Mr. Morooka paused just before leaving the classroom. "You heard the announcement. Stay here until you hear otherwise."

The classroom was immediately filled with the sounds of students gossiping. From outside the sound of sirens could be heard. A few students peered out the window.

"Those sirens sound pretty close."

"Yea, too bad we can't see anything through all this fog."

"Yea, it seems like every time it rains we get fog lately."

"Hey, did you hear about how everyone's looking for that announcer chick Mayumi Yamano?"

One of the students walked away from the group and approached a girl sitting in the row in front of Tristan.

"Hey Yukiko, can I ask you something? Is it true that announcer is staying at your family's inn?"

The girl gave a tired sigh. "I can't discuss such things."

"Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense. Thanks anyway." The boy walked away and the girl that was sitting beside Tristan got up and walked over .

"Sheesh, ho long is this gonna take?"

"There's no way of telling."

"I shoulda left before the stupid announcement… By the way, did you try that thing I told you about the other day? About rainy nights?"

"Oh…no, not yet. Sorry."

"It's no problem. It's just that I heard a guy in another class yell something like, "my soulmate is Yamano the announcer!""

Suddenly the intercom crackled to life again. "Attention students. There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the school zone. Please stay calm, contact you parents or guardians as soon as possible and leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers."

Once again the classroom erupted with the chatter of excited students. Tristan decided to head home quickly before any more excitement happened. He stood up andcollected his things. Just as he started to walk away a voice piped up from behind him.

"Hey, are you going home by yourself?" Tristan turned around to see the short haired girl he sat beside and the girl she was talking with earlier. "If you are, why don't you come with us instead?" Tristan paused, surprised a little by how forward the girl was. Before he could say anything the girl spoke up again. "Oh! Almost forgot. I'm Chie Satonaka. You know I sit next to you, right?"

"Oh yea, I'm Tristan Chase. It's nice to meet you."

Chie nodded. "This is Yukiko Amagi." She said gesturing at the girl beside her. Yukiko had long black hair and wore a red sweater over her uniform.

"Oh, nice to meet you… Um, I'm sorry that this is so sudden…"

Chie frowned at her friend. "Hey don't apologize like that. You're making me look bad." She returned her attention to Tristan. "I just wanted to ask you some stuff, that's all."

"Um, yea sure that sounds good." Tristan said a little awkwardly. With that the trio began walking towards the door. However they didn't make it far before they were stopped by another student. The boy had messy brown hair and a pair of headphones around his neck. Tristan recognized him as the boyy who had crashed his bike this morning. He looked at Chie with a grim expression.

"Uh, umm, Miss Satonaka…? This was really awesome." Yosuke held out a DVD case. "The way they moved and stuff was really cool and stuff. So… I'm really sorry! It was an accident! Just go easy on me until my next paycheck!" The boy spoke extremely fast and bowed his head. Chie grabbed the case from him slowly. "Anyway, I'll see ya later. Thanks!" He started to speed walk away but Chie went after him.

"Hold on a sec! What did you do to my movie?" as she walked she opened it up and a murderous gleam shone in her eyes. The boy stopped and looked at her sheepishly but before he could say anything Chie wound up and kicked him in the groin. "What the heck is this! It's completely cracked! My "Trial of the Dragon!""

"Oooh, I think mine's cracked too… Critical hit to the nads…" The boy was hunched over in pain, holding the affected area.

Yukiko spoke up with a concerned look on her face. "Are you all right?"

The boy looked up. "Oh, Yukiko-san… Are you worried about me…?"

Before she could reply Chie cut in. "He'll be fine, let's just go home"

Chie and Yukiko left the classroom. Tristan looked at the boy as he remained hunched over. He couldn't help but feel sympathy at his pain. Tristan decided it would be best if he just left him alone and hurried after the girls.

* * *

At the school gate Tristan, Chie and Yukiko had been stopped by a pale looking boy with tired eyes. He had asked Yukiko out on a date which drew a rather large crowd. A few guys muttered about how many people had felt the sting of rejection from Yukiko. There was a few moments of silence before the boy spoke up again.

"Well are you coming or not?"

"I'm not" Yukiko said a little coldly.

The boy seemed taken aback for a moment and a look of hurt flashed across his face. "Well fine!" he yelled and ran off.

Yukiko seemed confused by his reaction. "Wait, what did he want from me?"

"What do you mean? He obviously was asking you out on a date."

"What? Really?"

Chie sighed and shook her head. "You really couldn't tell? Sheesh." The group started walking again. Tristan remained silent. "Although it doesn't really matter, he was creepy anyway."

As they walked the boy from earlier caught up to them, wheeling his bike beside him. "Yo, Yukiko-san. I heard you turned down another lovelorn fool. I've been there…"

"Huh? You have?" Yukiko seemed puzzled.

"Whoa you don't remember? Well in that case you wanna hang out sometime?"

"Not really."

"Hurts just as bad the second time." The boy said dejectedly. "Well anyway, you two better not pick on the transfer student too much." With those remarks he peddled off in a hurry.

"We're just curious!" Chie yelled after him.

The group continued walking and Chie decided to start peppering Tristan with questions.

"So you're from Canada?"

"Yep."

That's awesome, what's it like there."

"Uh, pretty cold I guess. And there's a lot of space. We don't really have any big cities close to where I'm from."

"Do you live in igloos?"

"No, that's a myth."

"Do you ride moose?"

"No, another myth. We have cars like everyone else."

"Do you drink maple syrup?"

Tristan chuckled. "Uh no, some people do I guess but personally I don't. I just put it on stuff."

"So why did you come to Japan?"

"I'm part of an athlete exchange program. I came here to play hockey."

"Wow that's really cool. That must mean you're pretty good then."

"Umm, I guess so."

"Oh don't be so modest. You can brag a little."

"Haha that's not necessary."

The trio stopped. "There really isn't much here, huh? But that's kinda what makes it nice. But there's not much to show you. I guess there's the Amagi Inn though! Yukiko's family runs it. It's the pride of Inaba!"

"It's not that great. Just an old inn."

"No way, It's been in all kinds of magazines as a hidden treasure. It's a great inn. It's been going for generation and Yukiko is next in line to take it over. It's pretty much the only thing that bring people into Inaba."

"I don't think that's all true."

"So, tell me. You think Yukiko's cute, right?"

Tristan's eye's widened at the sudden personal question. "Woah, uh that's a pretty out of the blue question…"

Chie started laughing and Yukiko looked down and sighed. "Come on Chie, don't start this again."

"She's really popular at school, but she's never had a boyfriend. Kinda weird, huh?"

"Come on, stop it." Yukiko said blushing. "You shouldn't believe that, okay? It's not true that I'm popular or that I've never had a boyfriend." Yukiko paused and thought about what she said. "Not that I've had a boyfriend. I uh… just don't need one. Geez Chie." Yukiko glared at her friend.

"Haha sorry! But this is our one chance to talk to someone foreign and you've hardly said a word!" Chie looked over to the side of the road. "Hey what's going on over there?"

The group looked over and saw a gathering of people being stopped by a police line. As the three watched they heard one lady mention a dead body.

"Wait, dead body?" Chie seemed scared.

Suddenly Dojima walked out from the police line.

"Hey, what're you doin here?"

"Oh, uh we were just passin by." Tristan said to his uncle.

"I guess I should have figured that would happen."

"You know this guy?" Chie asked Tristan.

"Yea, this is my uncle."

"I'm Detective Dojima, his guardian while he's here. Uh… well, how should I put this… I hope you can get along with him. But you three should head straight home." Adachi started walking back to the crime scene. Suddenly a you man bolted across the street and threw up in the grass beside the side walk. "Adachi! How long are you going to act like a rookie. Shape up or I'll send you back to central office."

The young detective looked back with a pale face. "I'm… blurgh. Sorry."

Dojima sighed. "Go wash your face. We have to go around and gather information." Dojima nodded at Tristan and walked away.

"Do you think this is what that announcement at school was for?" Chie asked.

"Yea probably." Tristan replied.

"What do they mean… hanging around the antennae." Yukiko pondered.

"Well, we should probably all head straight home." Tristan suggested.

"Good idea. Well, starting tomorrow let's all do our best." Chie said cheerfully.

* * *

Later that evening Tristan and Nanako sat watching T.V. Dojima hadn't returned home and the two sat in silence. The program they were watching ended and the news came on.

"Today's top story takes place in Inaba. Around noon Today, a woman was found dead near the Samegawa River. The deceased has been identified as Mr. Mayumi Yamano, A 27 year old announcer at the local television station. The official statement from the Inaba Police Department…"

"Hey! That's where dad works!" After that outburst Nanako fell Silent again and looked at the floor.

"Are you worried about him?"

"Uh-uh, it's his job, so things like this happen."

They turned their attention to the T.V. again. "The body was found hanging from a large attenae. Authorities are uncertain as to why the body was in this state. With the cause of death uncertain the death has not yet been classified as a homicide or accident. Progress in the case has been slowed due to a thick fog."

"They found her on the roof? That's kinda scary…" Nanako shivered a little. The news ended and a commercial for a chain of stores came on. The commercial ended with a jingle, which Nanako repeated once it ended. "Every day's great at your Junes." Nanako smiled and looked at Tristan.

"You like the song?" Tristan asked.

"Yep! It's really popular at school too."

"Really? Never heard of a commercial jingle being that popular."

"I really like it." Nanako said still smiling. She sang the song over to herself a few times. Tristan decided that he should go to bed. He said goodnight to Nanako and returned to his room. He decided to unpack the rest of his possessions. After doing so and changing he climbed into bed and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **Authors Note: Sorry about the wait on this one. Hope you guys like the chapter. Let me know if there's anything wrong with it and please let me know what you think!**

Tristan walked the route to school again the next day. The sky was clouded over and set a bit of a gloomy mood. He strolled along taking in the scenery of the small town. As he got closer to the school he saw a few more students. A few he recognized as his classmates. Soon he could see the school gate. He heard the sound of a bike approaching from behind and turned to see the boy Chie kicked yesterday riding quickly towards him. He stepped to the side and the boy cruised past, looking a little wobbly. Suddenly he slid to the right and crashed into a pile of trash, creating a plume of dust. When the dust settled Tristan saw the boy stuck headfirst in a garbage can rolling around on the floor.

"Agh!? Someone there? Please help, it smells so bad…"

Tristan walked over and yanked the can off his head. He stood up, brushed himself off and took a sniff of his shirt.

"Whoa, that's ripe. Thanks a lot man, I owe you one." He paused and stuck out his hand. "Hey you're the transfer student Tristan Chase right? I'm Yosuke Hanamura. Good to meet you. Oh and if Chie told you anything about me, it's all lies."

Tristan shook his hand firmly. "It's nice to meet you. So, in the two days I've been coming to this school I've seen you crash twice. What's up with that?"

Yosuke looked a little embarrassed. "I swear this doesn't happen all the time. My bike chains all rusted and I don't want to spend the money to replace it." Tristan smirked and raised an eyebrow. The two boys started walking and Yosuke continued. "It's true I swear! Anyway, did you hear about what happened yesterday? How they found that announcer hanging from the antenna?"

"Yea I did, we actually ended up walking right by the crime scene yesterday."

"Really? Did you see anything?"

"No, they had everything pretty well covered by the time we got there."

"Oh that's too bad. But still, how messed up would a person have to be to dangle a body over a roof. Though, I guess just killing people in general is pretty messed up." As they were talking they heard the sound of the school bell ringing. "Oh crap, we're late!"

"We better hurry then." The two boys took off running, Yosuke dragging his bike along with him."

* * *

Tristan sat in class listening to Mr. Morooka yell at the class for one reason or another. He absentmindedly doodled on a piece of paper in front of him. Beside him Chie was staring off into the distance. Yukiko looked like the only one in the class paying attention. Tristan felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Yosuke.

"Hey man, you doing anything after school?" He whispered.

"No I don't think so, why?" Tristan replied quietly.

"Why don't you let me take you out for some steak to thank you for saving me this morning?"

"You don't have to do that man, it's not like I did much."

"No I insist, come on we'll go get some of the good stuff." Yosuke said, glancing nervously at the front of the room.

"Hey, Yosuke's buying steak? Count me in." Chie suddenly butted in on the conversation.

"What? Screw that I'm not buying you steak." Yosuke said raising his voice a little.

Chie grinned mischievously at him. "Oh, is someone forgetting a certain broken "Trial of the Dragon?" You owe me."

Yosuke sighed. "Fine, you can come."

"Yes!" Chie cheered.

"Miss Satonaka, is there a reason you're disturbing my class?"

"Oh uh… no"

"Then shut the hell up!" Mr. Morooka screamed.

"Sorry sir."

Tristan and Yosuke chuckled a bit and Chie shot them a dirty look. Tristan just shrugged and Yosuke quickly looked away. Mr. Mooroka just glared at the class before continuing his lecture.

"Can't you morons just shut up long enough for me to give my lecture? It's bad enough it's my job to teach you idiot's philosophy." He droned on and the class's attention steadily declined. Tristan went back to doodling impatiently as he waited for class to end. Finally the bell rang and everyone in the class immediately started packing up. Mr. Morooka huffed and stormed out of the room. Tristan, Yosuke and Chie got up and began to leave the class together.

"Hey Yukiko, wanna come for some steak? Yosuke's buying!" Chie asked Yukiko excitedly.

"Hey! You can't just offer to spend my money like that!" Yosuke said glaring at Chie.

"Oh that's all right. I'm trying to watch my weight. I need to help out at the inn today anyway."

"Oh wow Yukiko-san. Training to take over the family business already?" Yosuke asked curious.

"No it's not like that! I just help out when it gets busy. I should get going." With that Yukiko hurried out of the classroom.

"Well we should get going to. Don't want to keep that delicious steak waiting!" Chie said with enthusiasm.

Yosuke sighed. "I can't believe I have to treat two people…" The three made their way out of the classroom and followed Yosuke to their destination.

* * *

Yosuke had led the other two to the roof of a large department store where they sat at a table under an umbrella. Yosuke had walked over to the concession area to get everyone's meal. Tristan and Chie made small talk while they waited. Soon Yosuke returned and placed three meals on the table.

"Sheesh, it's gonna take me a whole weeks' worth of work to pay this off. You guys better be grateful."

"Hey! This isn't steak! Why did you take us to your place anyway? They've never served steak here!" Chie said outraged.

Yosuke grinned sheepishly. "Well once you jumped on the freeloader train I kinda had to change my plans.""

"Wait, your place?" Tristan asked confused.

"Oh yea I guess you don't know. I moved here from the city about six months ago. This location just opened and my dad was chosen to manage it. My whole family moved out here and now I work here part time."

"Oh wow, was it hard to move?"

"It kinda sucked to leave all my friends and come from a place with so much going on to here. But it must be harder for you. You left your family and came to a new country with a new language." Tristan just shrugged a little. Yosuke slid a tray over to him. "Well, eat up. Think of it as a welcome to the town."

The three began eating and chatting. Chie and Yosuke filled Tristan in on some town gossip. Chie mentioned that the opening of Junes had caused the local shopping district to lose a lot of business. As they talked Yosuke noticed a girl standing a little ways off.

"Hey! Saki-sempai." He turned to Tristan and Chie. "Sorry guys, I'll be right back."

"Who's that?" Tristan asked Chie.

"Oh, that's Saki Konishi. Her family runs a liquor store in the shopping district. But I think she's working here part time.

Yosuke and Saki talked for a short while before they both walked over to Tristan and Chie.

"Hey are you the transfer student?" Saki asked Tristan.

"Yep that's me"

"It's nice to meet you, are you getting along with Yosuke? I guess you guys have bit in common since you both transferred here."

Tristan chuckled. "Yea I think we'll get along well."

Saki smiled. "That's good; I don't see him hanging out with many other guys very often."

"Hey! That's not… uh necessarily true." Yosuke whined.

"Hana-chan's a good guy. A little nosy, but a good guy. Just tell him straight if he's being annoying."

"Thanks for the advice." Tristan said smiling while Yosuke pouted behind Saki.

"Well my breaks almost over. I should get going. It was nice meeting you!"

"Nice meeting you too. See you later." Saki walked back into the store. Leaving the other three sitting alone at their table again.

"She's nosier than I am…" Yosuke grumbled, still pouting. "She has a younger brother but I feel like she treats me the same as she does him."

Chie smirked. "Oooh, you don't want to be treated like a brother do you? So that's how it is… The daughter of a family run liquor store and the scion of the invading chain. Sounds like the flame of forbidden love"

"What are you babbling about? It's not like that." Yosuke said blushing.

"Uh huh, sure. Anyway I know just the thing to cure your lovesick heart. Have you heard of the midnight channel? Apparently if you look at a TV that's turned off at midnight on a rainy night a person will appear on screen. They say the person you see is supposed to be your soul mate."

"What!? For a second there I thought you'd say something actually useful. How can you get all excited over an urban legend like that?"

"So you don't believe it?"

"Of course I don't!"

"Well then." Chie said mischievously. "It's supposed to rain tonight. Why don't we all try it out?"

"So you're saying you haven't even tried it yourself?" Yosuke said tiredly. "Anyway, you guys heard about the murder last night right? Wouldn't it be creepy if the culprit was still lurking around here somewhere? Hehe"

"Hey, you shouldn't joke about that kind of stuff. Anyway, you guys better try it tonight."

The three finished eating and talked for a short while longer. Tristan told the two a little more about life in Canada and let them practise their English on him. Soon it was evening and the three went their separate ways.

* * *

That night Tristan lie awake in bed. Rain beat down on his bedroom window. He was thinking back on the events of the day and couldn't get to sleep. He looked over at the clock. _Hmm it's already 11:57. Maybe I should check the TV just for fun._ He got up and looked at the blank TV screen. _There's no way anything will happen. Chie must've been pulling my leg. I bet Yosuke was actually in on it too._ Suddenly the screen on the TV started to glow a dim yellow. Tristan stumbled backwards in surprise. He looked over and saw that the TV was completely unplugged. _What the heck is going on?_ He cautiously approached the screen and looked closer. On the screen, through the static Tristan could kind of make out the silhouette of a person. _She looks kind of familiar; does that mean this is my soulmate?_ Tristan reached forward to steady himself against the screen when his arm went through the screen. His eyes widened in shock and he froze. The screen rippled from where his arm stuck through. Tristan could feel the TV pulling him in. With a grunt and an enormous effort he yanked his arm out of the TV, the momentum sent him tumbling backwards and he smacked his head on the coffee table behind him. _Ouch, what the heck is going on here?_ His thoughts were interrupted by a timid voice from outside his room.

"Hey, are you ok in there?"

"Oh, yea just tripped. Sorry if I woke you up Nanako."

"It's ok, I was still awake. Well goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Tristan heard Nanako walked back down the stairs. _I wonder if Yosuke and Chie experienced anything like I did. I'll definitely have to talk to them tomorrow._ Tristan climbed back into bed and pondered the strange events of the night. Eventually drifting to sleep.


End file.
